Swirl finishes, "Dragonfly style !" (56k warning for pictures !)

[Monotremata]

Awesome I knew I shouldve gotten that instead but I had seen mention of the Low Odor one here so I grabbed that hehe.
Those poor ladies at Michaels when I told them what I was building just kinda went 'Oh umm try this I guess..'

BTW Wagster I was going to comment in my first post above but forgot.. GREAT job on that blue/white/smoke finish!
May have to steal that color scheme for my Mouse when I build it!

[Wagster]

Awesome I knew I shouldve gotten that instead but I had seen mention of the Low Odor one here so I grabbed that hehe.
Those poor ladies at Michaels when I told them what I was building just kinda went 'Oh umm try this I guess..'

BTW Wagster I was going to comment in my first post above but forgot.. GREAT job on that blue/white/smoke finish!
May have to steal that color scheme for my Mouse when I build it!

No problem because I stole it from Dragonfly  I used Anita's acrylic paint, (black, white, aegean blue)

[sfx]

Has anyone tried priming the enclosures before painting? I don't know how this would affect the actual paint swirling part, but using it would help make the finish less prone to chipping.

Also try Games Workshop acrylics. I used to use these on Warhammer figures and its decent quality paint, if a bit expensive. Besides regular colours there are also metallics and washes for some variety. They also sell clear coat that is 100% compatible with the acrylic paint.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/landing.jsp?catId=cat150004

[coreybox]

Has anyone tried priming the enclosures before painting? I don't know how this would affect the actual paint swirling part, but using it would help make the finish less prone to chipping.

I just had my first swirl attempt earlier this week. I put a powder coat finish on the enclosure, and then used acrylics on top of that.

Here is a picture, before any clear coats:

[Monotremata]

Wow thats pretty rad.. Hard to tell from the pic but how did the surface turn out using the powder coat as primer??
Which reminds me I STILL need to take pics of my damn Fuzz Face!!

[coreybox]

The surface looks pretty smooth. It looks really bumpy in that picture, but it's not. After the clear coats it looks pretty good.

I'm happy with it.

[jayp5150]

I'm curious as to why you would go through the trouble (and cost) of powdercoating to use as a base for an acrylic paint.

A good coat of primer will do just fine. Actually, I just did this, and it came out to a smoother finish than the other 2 I've attempted (which were on plastic boxes--so, no primer).

I'm not knocking your method, it just seems like overkill to powdercoat, then cover it up. Plus, powdercoating leaves a super-glossy surface, I thought (well, I guess it can.

BTW, do you have a home powdercoating kit, or do you pay to have them done?

[coreybox]

It's a cheap home powder coating kit that a friend gave me for free.

It's just as quick as a spray can... and well I didn't have any primer either.

No thought put into it other than it was what I had on hand. Though if the paint does chip, the powder coating won't chip off, where as primer normally does.

[jayp5150]

It's a cheap home powder coating kit that a friend gave me for free.

It's just as quick as a spray can... and well I didn't have any primer either.

No thought put into it other than it was what I had on hand. Though if the paint does chip, the powder coating won't chip off, where as primer normally does.

In that case, no loss.

That's something I've wanted to look into, but then I have to get a spare oven, etc...

I guess I wasn't thinking that the durability was a plus.

[Zedmin_fx]

This will soon be a fuzz face once I get the parts.

[bluesdevil]

Damn, I like that one... pretty classy!! Swirled on bare metal? I'd like to try for that look when I get some enclosures to finally paint on.

[Zedmin_fx]

Yea I guess you can prime it if you want I just sanded the enclosure a little then went crazy with the paint. I will get some more pics when the clearcoat is on and finished.

[Wagster]

I love the look of the swirls with acrylic but is there a more durable clear coat than the acrylic lacquer?I used Krylon Crystal Clear and my pedal is already showing dings and I haven't even gigged it yet.

Thanks,
Billy

[darron]

I love the look of the swirls with acrylic but is there a more durable clear coat than the acrylic lacquer?I used Krylon Crystal Clear and my pedal is already showing dings and I haven't even gigged it yet.

Thanks,
Billy

i never use anything except polyurethanes...  that includes my car!

[PurpleStrat]

The blue one is an MKII built by forumite Filament, modded by me to taste and rehoused in one of Andy's swirl enclosures (my personal favorite that he has done). On the right is an old GGG Big Muff with 2n3906 trannies (I keep this over a Mayo!) that I rehoused in one of my own attempts at a swirl.
 

[Focalized]

My first three swirly boxes. Greatly appreciate this technique. I'm a bit tired of painting and decals. This is fun. First two used paint from AC Moore. Too expensive. The third used Folk Art paint from Wal-Mart. Much cheaper and more colors.

First. Looks very organic. Not much swirl, looks like marble! Sides aren't that interesting. I've found the sides are the hardest parts. Really tricky to get the paint to flow evenly covering the whole side. I've had to use a Q-Tip to drip and spread it around a bit to cover the metal.



Second. A bit cheesy looking. Still was hard to get the sides even. I wish the top looked like the back.


Third. I like this one. Was easier to do. Maybe it was the different paint.


So I didn't really swirl them much. Just let it run across the box.

[Zedmin_fx]

WOW FRIGGIN SWEET WORK MAN, I would love the green and white one.

[suregork]

Here is my newest swirl:



Not very happy about the results, but think it looks ok..

More info here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=36392.msg553633#msg553633

[Zedmin_fx]

painted these tonight I think its perty cool

[deaconque]

First. Looks very organic. Not much swirl, looks like marble! Sides aren't that interesting. I've found the sides are the hardest parts. Really tricky to get the paint to flow evenly covering the whole side. I've had to use a Q-Tip to drip and spread it around a bit to cover the metal.

I really like this one.  sometimes less is more